Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce hosts county commissioners

PLYMOUTH — Business owners, civic leaders and representatives of public service agencies gathered at the Plymouth Country Club Wednesday morning for the annual Montgomery County Commissioners Luncheon, hosted by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by PECO.

About 50 guests mixed and mingled in a packed banquet room, discussing everything from launching small businesses and the acquisition of funding for charitable organizations to traffic considerations as they waited for remarks from commissioners’ Chairman Josh Shapiro, Vice Chairwoman Leslie S. Richards and Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr.

After lunch and dessert, the commissioners arrived and greeted the attendees before addressing the crowd.

Shapiro spoke first, delivering a veritable “state of the county” address, which he began by thanking the chamber and discussing the financial morass the county found itself in two years ago.

Advertisement

“From a fiscal perspective, we were facing a massive budget deficit” said Shapiro. “We were literally missing 12 percent of our revenue … Our debt and debt service was at a near record high for Montgomery County. Our pension fund hadn’t seen a payment in five ears.”

In addition, he said, the county’s once robust reserve fund had dwindled under the stewardship of his predecessors.

“Today I’m proud to stand in front of you and tell you that your county government is on firm financial footing,” he said.

Shapiro went on to tout the county’s current operating surplus, a rejuvenated reserve fund that now stands at 12 percent of the budget, and a pension fund that has received payments in each of the last two years.

Debt service has receded in each quarter since the current commissioners took office, and critical investments in infrastructure, assets, and energy efficiency have begun to bear fruit, Shapiro said.

Although he did not mention the facility at Parkhouse Providence Pointe by name, he referred to the controversial sale of the property indirectly by stating that the county recently got out of the nursing home business through a deal that will ensure quality care for nursing home residents and save taxpayers money.

A 19 percent reduction in county government departments under the current administration is an example of the streamlining achieved thus far in the current board of commissioners, he said. His message to the business community, he said, was that fiscal resurgence and bureaucratic streamlining has paved the way for investment and a more welcoming environment for commerce countywide.

Shapiro cited Norristown-headquartered baseball bat manufacturer Chandler Bats as a success story of a company that has directly benefitted from the county’s new initiatives, which aided in procuring the company’s building and assisted in workforce training.

Shapiro also announced that the commissioners are on the cusp of launching a new initiative for economic development.

He stressed that county economic and workforce development agencies have been synergized to make the county more business friendly.

“Gone are the days of giving out big cardboard checks and calling that economic development, because my feeling is that’s not always sustainable over time, and I’m not sure that’s a great use of your tax dollars,” Shapiro said. “But where we can leverage public/private dollars to help all of you … we know that’s something that business really needs from their county government.”

He closed by expressing his enthusiasm about the direction of the commerce department upon “getting its fiscal house in order” and that it was done “without asking you for a single dollar more in taxes.”

Richards spoke next about the drafting of the county’s comprehensive plan, a quinquennial effort that utilizes input from the public sector, the business community and residents, to compile data that the planning commission uses to envision what Montgomery County will look like in the future.

The plan, dubbed MONTCO 204, has been bolstered by unprecedented public participation, with a record 2,600 surveys received to date, Richards said.

“Obviously we’re taking a very close look at transportation, job creation, revitalization, and how we utilize open spaces — all the things that really are crucial to what we would consider our quality of life issues,” she said.

She encouraged attendees to take advantage of the week remaining for public comments on the planning commission’s website, and she mentioned a 25-member stakeholder’s commission of diverse community and business leaders that meets every month and act as a steering committee for the county plan.

Richards highlighted the commissioners’ commitment to transportation and said that under the current administration, transportation projects “are getting the focus and the funding” they need. She cited investment in excess of $100 million for the 202 Markley St. renovation and the Lafayette Street corridor, which she said would facilitate regional access to Norristown, local trails and the waterfront.

She also touted renovation and energy conservation projects for the Main Street garage, the county courthouse and One Montgomery Plaza, as well as the proposed expansion of the Norristown High Speed Line to the King of Prussia/Valley Forge area.

Last on the docket was Castor , who said he was pleased with the progress the administration has made and expressed optimism about the future.

“When we started, the financial picture was so bleak that I actually wondered whether we would be able to achieve what we have now in four years, much less than two years,” Castor said.

“It’s been a tremendous team effort — cutting expenses and finding new ways to be more efficient and get us back going in the right direction,” he continued. “I spoke with the CFO last night, who thinks that we may be in a position to re-attain the triple-A bond rating later this year. Obviously we’re close and that’s something that’s very important to us ...

“One of the things of particular value to this group is knowing that Montgomery County’s financial house is getting back in order, (and) when it’s fully back in order we now are in position to be able to do some of the things that we campaigned on and hoped we would be able to do.”

In response to a question, Shapiro praised dispatch operators and first responders for handling a record breaking number of 911 calls, and PECO for its efficient response to power outages, given the unprecedented adverse conditions.

The commissioners also fielded questions about the failure of the Studio Center project at Logan Square, located east of Markley Street along West Johnson Highway in Norristown. They agreed that the troubled project, funded through a combination of public and private funds, was ill-conceived and beleaguered by mismanagement, and they said that taxpayers wouldn’t be able to recoup their losses, which prompted the developer to pull out of the project.

However, the commissioners remained optimistic about the site’s future and viewed the setback as a cautionary example to be learned from moving forward.

At the end of the luncheon, chamber of commerce President and CEO Kathy Brandon presented each of the commissioners with a different volume from Nancy Krulik’s “Magic Bone” series of children’s books.